The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-04-17
LONDON GOSSIP.
HOW I DINED IN THE HOUSE OF
COMMONS.

The Men I Met There The House
Compared With Congress - Why
There Arc No Newspaper Interview
ers on the London Press The Ameri-
can Exhibition Virtually Completed
Some False Runors-Entire Success
at Last-The Emperor of Germany
and the Fortune Tellers, Etc.
LONDON. April 2--It was raining cats
and dogs" one night this week when l
whiStled ON my door step for hanson
cab, and, jumping in, started for the House
of Commons, where | was to dine at s
o'clock. Now, everybody almost who
comes to London goes on a visit to the House
of Commons Yards and yards of matter
descriptive of it have been written, and
photographs of it are as common as those Of
Mrs Langtry, so do not propose to dilate
ON the buildings. But a dinner in the
House to an American is not 50 common,
and / am going to tell you what it was Ike
Well, as | have said it rained i'll the fe-
line cum-canine style, and after a furious
drive of half hour, during which the cab
leaked i'll various places, and the bottom of
it became small, shallow and confoundedly
unpleasant pond, l arrived at the doors
found the usual crowd around the entrance,
but O man-servant took my card in, and my
host promptly appeared, armed with the
necessary order, and passed into the inner
and charmed recesses. We went imme-
diately into the dining room, where visitors
are allowed. 1t is the centre one ot three,
which open one into the other. 1t was, I
should say at a rough guess, about 20 by 60
feet, with q very high ceiling. The room
was light and warm, and the air was full Of
a savory smell of toothsome viands
In a few moments we were installed i'll
seats at a small square table at the end of
the room, and consulted the bill of fare.
You see there is no ordering set dinners of
swell character in the restaurant at the
House. There is the "caTte du jour-" and
you can order what you like from it. 1t is not
long or fanciful; just some good, plain, sub
stantial dishes, for it is not intended as a
place of entertainment, but as a convenience
for members who are too busy to go elsewhere
to dine, or i'll case of Indictment weather.
The prices were also moderate, the cost of a
slice of roast meat, with two vegetables, be-
ing about Soc. In fact, the bill of fare was
very like that at Simpsons" in the Strand,
and scores of other places in London where
they serve q SOC. dinner from the joint. We
ordered n soup, some fish, some ''pateS
d'hOmard, - roast beef, nice fruit tart, and
cheese and salad-the most elaborate dinner
afforded by the bill of fare, and bottle of
extremely good dry champagne to wash it
down with Then | had time to look
around me The tables were nearly all
filed with members, and they were nearly
all in morning dress. The noise Of the talk
ing and laughing filed the room, and they
shouted at each other from table to table
with the abandon of school boys. This L
dwell upon, because as a rule in England
you notice always the extreme quiet which
prevails in restaurants and club dining
rooms. They always modulate their voices
carefully and the conversation is carried on
in q low key Eating is a serious business
with an Englishman, and have seen two
young men, in evening dress, come into the
dining room of my club whichis very large
one, and set down to a table to dine after
the following fashion: A few words of sug-
gestion, hardly worthy the name Of discus
sion, over what they would eat and drink,
and then eat their way through their dinner
in silence unbroken except by one or two
monosyllabic remarks. And yet they were
intimate friends, and were going after
wards to theatre. In fact, nothing truer
was ever said than that 'Englishmen take
their pleasure sadly" and, it might be add
ed, slowly as well. They will get into
smoking carriages in railway trains, and ten
men, many of them travelling in pairs, will
sit for hours in gloomy silence, and looking
as if they were all going to attend funeral
It is amusing to see an Englishman walk
into barroom alone, call for long drink
of whisky or brandy and soda, and spend
twenty minutes in slowly slipping it; mean
while he studies his boots carefully, with a
most abjectly miserable expression Mind
you, I don't say that all Englishnen do
this, but those who do not are the exceptions
that prove the rule.
But to get back to the House of Com
mons. l was struck, as l say, by the fact
that this was not the case in the House din
ing rooms. Several men shouted out for
my host to come and join them at table in
hearty, CHEEKY way, quite Yankee, you
know" and we finally settled down with
two men at table as | have said. Ny host
was young member of the Conservative
party, who had succeeded his father in the
House whether for the same district or not
/ do not know, when his sire was elevated
to the peerage and Joined the Upper
House. Car companions were, one OF them,
an elderly gentleman, member OF the
Conservative government at present in Of
fee, and niddle-aged gentleman, who is
one of the whips OF the Liberal party.
From that fact you will gather, as | did,
that party o onions do not affect social re-
lations among the members, and the mem
bers, and the conversation around me
proved that political discussions are re
served for the floor Of the House, and by
common consent are not continued over the
dinner table Taking them altogether, the
men around me. whose faces | could study
to better advantage here than from the Wis
itOrs' gallery, were a very representative
looking lot. Far more so, III fact, than the
same men at the House of Representatives
in dear old Washington. | think even the
Irish members compare favOrably with Their
colleagues who represent New city York III
the House. 1t would be hard to duplicate ''the
Hon Tim Campbell" among them, assure
you.
But the thing that struck me most, and it
would take columns to detail the little things
which went 10 create that impression, was
the air Of absolute democracy that pre-
vailed. have called it an air, it certainly
was an atmosphere. In fact there
was an even greater feeling of one man as
good as another there than ! ever renem-
Der having experienced at home, even when
| take into consideration that it was entirely
unexpected. and the conditions OF time ana
distance which may have affected me.
There can I've no doubt that the late Henry
Ward Beecher WAS right when he ex-
pressed the opinion during his last visit, that
England is f.eer country than America.
Oakley Hall too, who has lived here long
time now, is emphatic IN his expression of
the opinion that England is prc-eminently